Recording and Resources: Tourism Industry Safety Protocol & Comms

Earlier this week, we hosted an informative online session unpacking the tourism industry’s response to crises in South Africa, inclusive of the protocols should there be a tourism incident. 

The session also covered the newly developed National Tourism Crisis Communications Plan, which aims to protect the sector and ensure a coordinated response between public and private stakeholders when crises occur. The Plan covers some of the following key areas: 

• Types of crises covered, from low to high risk 
• Crisis Communications Phases 
• Task Team Structure 
•  Level of response from low to high impact 
•  Key messaging 

View the full National Tourism Crisis Communications Plan here 

Having an established crisis plan that all tourism stakeholders align to is vital for managing perceptions and mitigating impacts when incidents occur. By coordinating messaging and communications channels, the industry can ensure travellers, media and the public receive consistent, accurate information and reassurance.  

This protects the tourism sector's reputation and helps regain consumer confidence quickly so recovery efforts are effective. It also prevents contradictory or unhelpful messaging between different stakeholders that could further exacerbate the crisis. With all stakeholders committed to the national crisis plan, the industry can present a unified front in promptly responding to any incidents. 

 It is vital that you understand the National Tourism Crisis Communications Plan and that you discuss this with your teams. 

 Incident Management Protocol 

During the session, we also discussed the Incident Management Protocol which highlights: 

• Security stakeholder response 
• Traveller assistance and support 
• Communication platforms  
• Traveller aftercare and support 

Download the Incident Management Protocol here 

 It is vital that tourism businesses understand the protocol to follow in the event of an incident, ensuring that key stakeholders are informed and that the correct steps are taken to swiftly support the affected travellers. It is also vital to follow this protocol, as it ensures that we are consistently measuring incidents through key reports, enabling us to work together to ensure that our incident response is on point.   

 We need volunteers 

Thank you to industry role players who have already raised their hands to volunteer for important traveller assistance.  

We would like to extend a further invitation for volunteers to act as Tourism Ambassadors and/or Translators. 

Please let us know if you are able to offer assistance by completing the below survey. 

 Tourism Safety Volunteers Survey

SECURA Traveller 

The SECURA Traveller Toolkit was recently launched to support the industry in positioning the SECURA Traveller App for travellers. The toolkit includes marketing assets such as website sliders, social media assets, digital screen displays, a safety tip sheet and other key assets which you can use in your tourism business. The toolkit ensures that you have information at your disposal to help communicate the key benefits of the app and encourage widespread adoption. The toolkit download option is available in at the bottom of the page at www.securatraveller.co.za  

Download the SECURA Traveller toolkit here

The SECURA Traveller National Incident Centre is up and running with Hotline Number +27 83 318 2475. The service is provided through the E2 Operations Centre, an official joint crime-fighting initiative between the SAPS, Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) and the Private Security Industry (PSI). 

The App is available to travellers at R49 per download directly from www.securatraveller.co.za and is valid for 30 days. For drivers or guides, there is an annual subscription option at a significantly reduced rate of R350. 

Email any queries to info@securatraveller.co.za 

For any assistance on the toolkit, email securatraveller@bigambitions.co.za 

You are welcome to contact natalia.rosa@bigambitions.co.za regarding the National Tourism Crisis Communications Plan. 

Please contact Hannelie du Toit at hannelie@satsa.co.za or Andre du Toit at info@securatraveller.co.za for any assistance with the Incident Management Protocol. 

We encourage you to watch the recording from the session in the event you weren’t able to join us.  

Watch the recording here